THIS JUST IN!

Your vinewright just got the new issue of Wine & Spirits Magazine and it was chock full of good stuff. Several items of special interest to Central Coasters (and fans thereof) were included. First was a review of the Class of ’72, early players in the yet-to-bloom California wine resurgence. Among the alums of the 40^th reunion class was Jerry Lohr who planted his original vineyard in Arroyo Seco that year. Other powerhouse wineries that were founded or provided first offerings in 1972 included Chardonnay specialist Sonoma-Cutrer (Brice Jones), Cabernet stars to be Silver Oak (Ray Duncan) and the (Tom & Sally) Jordan, as well as Caymus (Chuck Wagner), Clos du Bois (Bernard Portet) and Warren Winiarski (Stag’s Leap Vineyard). Pinot and Carneros region pioneer David Stare and distributor/Rutherford Hill owner Anthony Terlato were also noted alums profiled. There was a lot of class in the Class of ’72.

Turning a few pages, there were the results of the 2012 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition which is proudly the largest competition of American wines. If you’d like to see the very long and detailed list of winners, go to winejudging.com. Of interest to this blog theme were some of the Best of Class (type by price) winners from the Central Coast. These included 2010 chardonnay offerings from Cupcake (Central Coast), Francis Coppola “Diamond” (Monterey), Chamisal (Central Coast) stainless and Rock Wall (Santa Lucia Highlands). Kendall-Jackson won with a Monterey County Vintner’s Reserve Riesling for the class of the varietal with more than 1.5% residual sugar. The over $50 Pinot Noir group kudos went to Wild Horse (Santa Maria) for the 2008 Cheval Sauvage. The Jan Kris label of Veris Cellars (Paso Robles) won the Sangiovese class with the 2009 “Riatta” blend.

In the $10-14.99 range of 2010 Chardonnay, Donati (Central Coast), Noble Vines (Monterey) and Vinifera (Paso Robles) were Gold Medal winners. In the $15-19.99 group, Joel Gott (Monterey) received a Double Gold and Angeline (Santa Barbara County) a Gold. At the $20-24.99 level Gold was awarded to Hahn SLH Estate (Santa Lucia Highlands), Surfrider (San Luis Obispo County) and William James ’09 (Santa Barbara County). At the group at $5 more were the 2009 offerings from Hearst Ranch (Santa Lucia Highlands) and Huber Cellars Estate (Santa Rita Hills). At $30-34.99, the ‘09s from Alapay Cellars (Central Coast) and Wrath “Fermata” (Monterey) both received Double Gold ratings.

Sea Glass 2010 and Main Street 2009 (both Santa Barbara County) Pinot Noir won Gold in the under $19.99 group. Up to $24.99, Paraiso Vineyards ’09 Estate took Double Gold with CRU (Monterey) getting a Gold award. Hahn SLH Estate ‘10 and Sonnet ‘09 “Tondre Vineyard” (both Santa Lucia Highlands) took Gold along with Scheid ’09 Estate (Monterey County). Double Gold also went to Mendelson Vineyards ’08 Doctor’s Vineyard (Santa Lucia Highlands) with the 2009 given Gold as was Kelsey See Canyon ’09 “Laetitia” (Arroyo Grande Valley) and the “Unbridled ’09 from Wild Horse (Santa Barbara County). Going to the $40-$49.99 set sees Flying Goat Cellars ’09 “Rancho Santa Rosa” (Santa Rita Hills) and grapes sourced from Gary’s Vineyard (Santa Lucia Highlands) in ‘07 by Truckee River Winery receiving Double Gold status and taking Gold for the same offering from ’08. Alapay’s 2010 “Bien Nacido” (Santa Maria Valley), DiFronzo ’09 Estate (Arroyo Grande Valley), Sanford ’09 (Santa Rita Hills), Tondre ’09 (Santa Lucia Highlands), Topei ‘09 (Monterey) and Vision Cellars ’08 (Santa Lucia Highlands) were Gold Medal winners.

In the top range of $50+, Pinot from the Central Coast took not only Best of Class but 30% (four of twelve) of the Gold Medals awarded. These include Carmel Hill 2010 (Carmel Valley), Fess Parker ’09 (Santa Barbara County), Pacific Coast Vineyards ’08 (Santa Rita Hills and Sanford ’09”Sanford & Benedict Vineyard” (Santa Barbara County).

This is a great showing for the wineries of the Central Coast and many more medals were given in the Silver or Bronze categories. This posting was reaching critical mass so I’ll go back to the winners in the Syrah and Zin competition soon as well as reporting on the annual restaurant survey of wines and pricing trends at dining establishments throughout the US.

A little more insight into Hospice:

From part of aWine Spectator, Aug 31, ’02 – “Dream Weavers” article by James Laube

The article was about the 10^th anniversary of what had become Hospice du Rhone and is about hold the twentieth version of that event. Beginning with an idea called the Viognier’s Guild, twenty eight people attended the original event, held in Georgia and hosted by Mat Garretson. There were more viogniers to taste than there were attendees but one of them was John Alban. He convinced Garretson to move the event to his Edna Valley winery near Paso Robles, CA and include Rhone style wines from anywhere they were made. Some well respected producers took part and attendance grew to one hundred fifty.

Now a decade old, the event had grown from a one day event to a three day weekend of all things Rhone-ish and offered the over 3,000 people who came more than one hundred fifty wines from a half dozen countries.  Laube noted that, “Overnight, the city of Paso Robles, a sleepy cowboy-town midway between LA and San Francisco, is transformed into an international mecca of Rhone-wine fanatics.”

This coming weekend, the 20^th anniversary of Hospice du Rhone (all one word .com for details) runs April 26-28 and lists around 150 wineries and export companies pouring wine. The full weekend pass ($795) allows access to tastings, seminars and events on Friday & Saturday and includes three meals each day from selected wine country caterers and restaurants. A tasting event focused on large bottle formats will feature food from Tennessee’s famous Blackberry Farm. Thursday’s events are all about Chateauneuf du Pape, offered ala carte or as a package ($395) but have already sold out. Lunches, tastings/auction and the individual seminars are also offered separately from the package but are space available options. The main venue for the events is the Paso Robles Events Center which locals refer to as the Fair Grounds, on the north end of town between Spring St. & Hwy 101. Lodging is at your own option, with a couple of the best known hotels within walking distance and many choices within fifteen minutes drive time. There are also a number of small B&B operations, many at wineries, and rarely more than thirty minutes from the main venue. Check www.pasowine.com for places to stay.